The online home of the self-published comics & prose anthology, Warrior27, an homage to Britain's early-80s comic magazine, Warrior - along with the various writings, musings, and miscellany of Dan Fleming and Chris Beckett.

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Friday, March 13, 2015

WHY THE FLASH [final part] – Wally West

Within a year-and-a-half of
discovering comic books, my favorite superhero, the Flash, was gone from the
spinner racks. Barry Allen had slogged
through the lengthy “Trial of the Flash” storyline – by many accounts a story
that was far too grim and went on for far too long – and sales were poor. So, with the 350th issue, the
powers that be axed the title. The
progenitor of the Silver Age of comics was now cast adrift. A year later, the Flash was accorded a proper
send-off with the eighth issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths, wherein
Barry Allen gave the ultimate sacrifice for the good of humankind. And with the final issue of that senses
shattering maxi-series, the mantle was passed to the Flash’s sidekick, Wally
West, who, as Kid Flash, had proved his mettle alongside his teammates in the
Teen Titans. But Wally had a huge legacy
to live up to.

The new Flash series was launched
out of the Legends mini-series, with Mike Baron and Jackson Guice as
guiding hands. Though uncommon, this
passing of the torch was not unheard of.
In fact, Barry Allen, once imbued with the power of superspeed,
patterned himself off the original Flash, Jay Garrick, whom Allen believed to
be merely a comic book character from his own youth, until circumstances
brought these two fleet heroes together – a newfound ability to traverse
parallel dimensions through extreme speed the catalyst for this historic
team-up. The idea of heroic legacy is
(or was) a linchpin in the DC universe, something that differentiated these
heroes from Marvel’s, and it was this that spurred Wally to take up the gold
and scarlet costume of his mentor, and uncle.

Immediately, Baron & Guice
worked to make this new Flash distinct from those who came before. Wally was young, brash, and, at times,
unthinking – decidedly different from Uncle Barry, who was a criminologist with
the Central City police, a job necessitating meticulous care, a trait inherent
in Barry. Wally also had limitations to
his speed, unable to slip between dimensions or circle the globe multiple times
in the blink of an eye, unlike the seemingly limitless nature of his
predecessor’s velocity. Perhaps most
importantly, Wally found himself weighed down by the example Barry set as the
Flash. It was a heroic standard that
many would find daunting and unable to live up to. Wally pushed himself, but always, in the back
of his mind, he imagined Barry looking down on him with disappointment. Though this yoke of responsibility spurred
Wally to work harder as the Flash, it also was something he found unable to
shake off.

This weight of responsibility came
to a head in Secret Origins Annual #2, in a story written by Baron’s
successor on the title, William Messner-Loebs.
In this tale, Wally is speaking with his therapist, relating not only
his origin but also many of the turning points in his life as a
superspeedster. Through the anecdotes,
readers, and Wally’s therapist, learn about many of the heroic deeds he has accomplished
during his young life. It’s an amazing
tale of an amazing life, one to be greatly admired. However, Wally doesn’t see it in these
terms. His focus is on all of the lives
he could not save, in spite of his extraordinary powers. When the therapist asks Wally to write down
how many people he’s saved in the past ten years – excepting intergalactic conflagrations
or universe-shattering threats – and his patient treats the number, 172, as routine,
he is left dumbfounded. The therapist
shares a thought – that maybe Wally isn’t able to achieve the speeds he once
could (the reason Wally is seeing this therapist) because he has wrongly
burdened himself with the belief that Barry would not be proud of him. He tells Wally he needs to give himself a
break and accept that 172 lives saved is an important achievement.

As the series evolved, a family of
speedsters, including Max Mercury, Johnny Quick, and others, grew around Wally
to help him become a better hero and a better person. And, in keeping with the youthful exuberance
of Wally’s character, there was often a lighter tone to many of the stories. It’s a fun series that sees a young hero grow
into his own through experience and the natural process of maturing. At its core, it is this personal struggle,
and the evolution of the character of Wally West, that makes this run of books
such a standout and the character of Wally West so great.

With a string of extraordinary
writers who each put their stamp on the character – from Baron and
Messner-Loebs to Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, and Geoff Johns – and strong work
from artists such as Guice, Greg Larocque, Mike Wieringo, and Scott Kolins,
there are a number of highlights in the nearly 250 issues of this series. Those highlights and the intriguing character
dynamic of Wally West, along with the foundation created by the wholesome and
unselfish character of Barry Allen, are the core of what made the Flash my
favorite superhero. Hands down. And it is why I still have a great affinity
for the scarlet speedster. Go try out
some of those back issues. If you enjoy
fun, energetic superhero comics, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.